Times wins right to name abuse-trial millionaire Tariq Khuja

Tariq Khuja was not a defendant at the trial of seven men on child sex offences but was named in evidencePeter Nicholls for the Times

The identity of a multimillionaire property developer who was arrested during a police inquiry into a child-sex ring was revealed yesterday after The Times won a four-year battle to lift his court-imposed anonymity.

Tariq Khuja, 40, who was also a magistrate, spent 16 months on bail during an investigation that led to a trial at which seven men from Oxford were convicted of offences against girls aged from 12 to 15. Five were jailed for life.

The Supreme Court’s decision to allow identification of Mr Khuja, who was not a defendant at the trial but was named in evidence, marks a significant victory for the freedom of the press to report criminal trials.

Until yesterday, gagging orders blocked this newspaper from revealing that Mr Khuja,…